JRS

Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, has announced the beginning of the process towards possible beatification of Father Pedro Arrupe SJ, who is going to be considered from now on a "Servant of God".The news arrived on the day of Fr Arrupe’s date of birth, 14th September. His encouragement to the rediscovery of the Spiritual Exercises and of the method of personal discernment is just one of his many contributions to the Society and to Ignatian Spirituality.It is...

With a shared border more than 2.000 kilometres long, Colombia and Venezuela are facing a serious challenge in managing their national relations. With the massive forced migration of people coming from Venezuela, an understanding needs to be reached.According to United Nations estimates, more than two million people have fled Venezuela as a result of the internal crisis and the government's economic policies. It is estimated that there are already close to one million forced migrants in...

The displacement of populations around the world reached unprecedented levels last year, according to the recently published Annual Report of the Jesuit Refugee Service. 2017, the report claims, was a year of “massive humanitarian need caused by the highest levels of forced displacement ever recorded”.According to the Annual Report, children accounted for “half of those on the move”. In its effort to respond to this, the JRS, “building on centuries of Jesuit expertise in the field of education...

Following the outbreak of violent attacks on humanitarian aid agencies in South Sudan two weeks ago, Jesuit Missions is providing high quality emergency tents for the displaced JRS staff in Maban ensuring the well-being of all staff after the attacks.On Monday 23rd July, eight aid agencies operating in Maban were forced to suspend their activities and evacuate their staff following violent attacks from local youth.Although the main JRS compound was spared, the Arrupe learning centre was badly...

The Society of Jesus has taken the first steps towards the beatification cause of Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ, who was Superior General from 1965 to 1983.Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ announced this at the International Association of Jesuit Universities meeting in Bilbao, Spain when he addressed the 300 Jesuit and lay participants. “We are still at the beginning of the process, but the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Angelo de Donatis, has given the approval that the Diocese of Rome open the process of...

Syria has entered its seventh year of crisis. The scale, complexity and severity of the situation and individual needs is as overwhelming as ever.Jesuit Missions supports the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Middle East who have a centre in Damascus and Aleppo providing access to literacy workshops for women.Education is a basic need for all. Many women have grown up in a conservative environment and have been deprived of education in a society that sees men as the workers and women as housewives....

It is necessary to increase access to education for refugee children, so that they may feel welcomed, have their skills and talents promoted, know they are protected, and be prepared to integrate into their host communities.Pope Francis has urged the global community to adopt a shared response to the global refugee situation that may be articulated in four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate.This World Refugee Day, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and Entreculturas are building upon...

Campion Hall, University of Oxford in association with Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford and Jesuit Refugee Service International, Rome, has announced the Pedro Arrupe Research Fellowship in Forced Migration.This exciting new two-year Fellowship is a collaboration between Campion Hall, the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), and Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) International. The Fellow will design an independent academic research programme relating to forced migration to be undertaken over...

A conference on the human realities of refugees in the UK, including voices from academics, practitioners and— most importantly—those seeking asylum themselves.Through the media, we all see images of refugees and hear stories about them. These, inevitably, help to form public perceptions. Yet behind the public perceptions, there are human realities. Besides the stories told about refugees, there are also the stories waiting to be told by refugees. Who takes the time to encounter those seeking...

On a recent trip to Uganda, Fr Thomas Smolich SJ, the International Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, reiterated JRS’s commitment to the service and accompaniment of the refugee population in Uganda, particularly in the area of education. Currently, Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa. The official figures put the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda at 1,395,146, most of whom from South Sudan.In Kampala, Fr Tom interacted with many of the refugees supported...